The largest number of planets outside our solar system – 1,284 in total -. was discovered by the Kepler space telescope, more than doubling the number of known exoplanets
“This announcement is more than double the number planets confirmed by the Kepler lens, “said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA in Washington, quoted by AFP.
500 of these planets can be similar to Earth and nine may even be necessary conditions for host life. “This gives us hope that somewhere out there around a lot like star ours, the sun, we can possibly find another planet,” said the scientist.
unmanned space observatory Kepler, which was released in 2009, allowed 150,000 stars scanning in search of bodies signs in orbit, particularly those who can where it can support life.
the Kepler works through watching a darkening in the light of the star, known as a transit, each time a planet orbiting, passes in front of the star light.
“of the approximately 5,000 total candidate planets found to date, more than 3,200 have been checked, and 2,325 were discovered by Kepler, “said NASA in a statement.
of the 1284 newly found planets, about 550 can be rocky planets like Earth, based on the size, announced the US space agency.
“Nine of these orbit in the habitable zone of its sun, which is the distance from a star where planets orbiting may have surface temperatures that allow liquid water to a swimming pool, “says NASA.
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